Flexible barrier

ABSTRACT

A flexible barrier to be extended across the bottom portion of an opening, for example the door opening in a garage, to intercept foreign matter, such as leaves, snow or dirt. The barrier is preferably formed of elastomeric material and has a broad base to be secured to the floor of the garage and has a flexible wall projecting upwardly from the base in position to engage and prevent said foreign matter from entering the garage, said wall being deflectable to permit a heavy object, such as an automobile, lawn mower, work cart or the like, to pass thereover on entering or leaving the garage without interference and will then return to normal position. The wall can be provided with vertical slits to increase the flexibility thereof and can have a laterally disposed lip or deflector portion extending from the upper edge thereof to intercept the foreign material and deflect it back out through said opening.

ijnited States Patent Fraleigh [4 1 Apr. 11, 197 2 54] FLEXIBLE BARRIERPrimary Examiner-Willard E. Hoag [72] Inventor: Alton L. Fralelgh, 7Toilsome Ave, Norwalk, Conn 06841 Attorney Johnson & Kline [22] Filed:Jan. 26, 1971 [57] ABSTRACT [21] Appl. No.: 109,853 A flexible barrierto be extended across the bottom portion of an opening, for example thedoor opening in a garage, to intercept foreign matter, such as leaves,snow or dirt. The barrier is [52] U.S.Cl ..49/34, 160/40, 1l660l//2l%1dpreferably formed of elastomeric material and has a broad base to besecured to the floor of the garage and has a flexible [5 I] s' wallprojecting upwardly from the base in position to engage [58] F dd 0 d iand prevent said foreign matter from entering the garage, said wallbeing deflectable to permit a heavy object, such as an au- 56 R f Citedtomobile, lawn mower, work cart or the like, to pass thereover I eerences on entering or leaving the garage without interference and willUNITED STATES PATENTS then return to normal position. 'I h e wall can beprovided with vert1ca1 slits to increase the flexibility thereof and canhave a 2,572,154 l0/l95l Howard laterally disposed or deflector portionextending from the 2,612,947 10/ 1 952 Jenks 1 60/40 upper edge th f tointercept the f i material and 2,820,516 1/1958 Cookson et a1. 1 60/40 dfl t i b k out through said opening. 3,156,293 11/1964 Reynolds 160/403,535,824 10/1970 Kessler ..49/489 8 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures FLEXIBLEBARRIER Heretofore there has been a problem of undesired foreign matteror material being blown along the ground and entering a structurethrough an unclosed opening and causing an undesired litter within thestructure. This has been particularly true of garages when the door isleft open after the automobile has been removed.

The present invention overcomes this problem by providing a flexiblebarrier secured to the floor of the structure or garage adjacent thedoor to extend across the opening to intercept and/or deflect foreignmatter that might pass along the ground and through said opening.

The flexible barrier, preferably made of elastomeric material, comprisesa base portion adapted to be secured to the ground and provided with anupwardly projecting flexible wall to engage and intercept said foreignmatter such as leaves, grass clippings, snow and dirt or the like asmight blow along the ground and through said opening and collect in thegarage.

The wall, being flexible, will deflect to permit a heavy object, such anautomobile, lawn mower or work cart or the like, to pass thereover onentering or leaving the garage without interference and will thereafterreturn to normal position. If desired, the wall can be provided withvertical slits to increase the flexibility thereof.

The wall can be provided on its upper free edge with a laterallyextending lip or deflector portion projecting forwardly to engage anddirect or deflect the foreign material back in the opposite direction.

If desired, the barrier can be made in sections and disposed inend-to-end relation to extend across said opening, said barrier beingsecured in position by any suitable means, such as adhesive or by ahold-down bar overlying said base and secured to the floor.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thespecification and claims when considered in connection with theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. I is a perspective view showing the flexible barrier in positionacross a door opening in a garage.

FIG. 2 is a transverse section showing the barrier of FIG. 1 and itsrelation to the door.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a barrier section.

FIG. 4 is a transverse section of the barrier with a holddown bar.

While a barrier of the present invention can be used in variousstructures having an opening therein, in the illustrated form of theinvention the barrier is shown in FIG. 1 in position within a structuresuch as a garage having a floor 11, a door opening 12 consisting of abottom portion 13, side portions 14, 15 and a top portion 16. Theopening is closed by a usual overhead sliding door 17.

A flexible barrier 18 of the present invention is mounted on the floor11 adjacent the door 17 to extend side to side of the opening as shownin FIGS. 1 and 2. The barrier 18 comprises a relatively broad base 19and has a flexible wall 20, preferably integral therewith, projectingupwardly from the base, as shown, a sufficient distance to engage andprevent foreign matter moving along the ground from entering the garage.

The base is adapted to be secured to the floor 11 or ground by asuitable adhesive layer 21, as shown in FIG. 2 or by a hold-down bar 22overlying the base and fasteners 23, as shown in FIG. 4.

According to the present invention the flexible wall of the barrier isdeflectable so that a heavy object, such as an automobile, lawn mower,work cart or the like can pass thereover on entering or leaving thegarage without interference and the wall thereafter will return tonormal position. If desired, the wall can be provided at spacedintervals with vertically extending slits 24 which increase thedeflectability of portions of the wall under heavy objects.

In the preferred form of the invention the wall is provided with alaterally disposed lip or deflector portion 25 extending forwardly fromthe upper free edge to intercept the foreign matter and cause it to bedirected back out through the opening. If desired, the lip can becurved, as indicated, to enhance its operation m intercepting anddirecting the flow of the foreign matter.

For example, in the preferred form of the invention the base 19 can be 5inches wide from edge to edge, the wall 20 can be about 6 inches highand the lip 25 can be I-% inch long. Such a barrier has been found toeffectively prevent foreign material, such as leaves, grass clippings,snow and dirt, from entering the garage and forming an unwantedaccumulation of such material, requiring frequent cleaning of saidmaterial from the garage.

The barrier is preferably formed from flexible elastomeric material(rubber, synthetic rubber such as neoprene or a butadiene-styrenecopolymer, and suitable thermoplastic polymers, such as polyethylene,polyurethane, polyvinyl chlorides, nylon or the like) which is capableof flexing as required and will withstand weather.

Although the barrier may be made in one piece long enough to extend fromside to side of the opening, in the preferred form of the invention itis made in short sections, as shown in FIG. 3, which are more readilyhandled, stored and shipped, said sections being easily laid and securedin end-to-end relation across the opening. As shown in FIG. 1, threesuch sections are illustrated to provide an effective flexible barrierto the passage of undesired material through the door opening 12.

Variations and modifications may be made within the scope of the claimsand portions of the improvements may be used without others.

Iclaim:

1. A flexible barrier comprising: an elongated base member having anelongated, thin wall member attached thereto, said wall member having aportion thereof, remote from said base permanently curved about an axissubstantially parallel to a line formed by intersection of said wallmember and said base said barrier being adapted to be mounted across anopening of a building and to being attached to a floor thereof, saidwall member being of sufficient height when installed to extend asubstantial distance above the base and to intercept blown leaves, saidflexible wall member also being adapted to deflect when a heavy objectpasses thereover and to regain its original position when said heavyobject has passed.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein said wall has spaced,upwardly extending slits therein to increase the flexibility of thebarrier.

3. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein the flexible wall is madeof an elastomeric material.

4. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein the base and flexiblewall are integral.

5. A building provided with a flexible barrier across the lower portionof a doorway, said barrier being adapted to intercept blown leaves, saidbuilding comprising: a doorway having a door and a floor adjacent saiddoorway, a flexible bam'er member mounted on said floor across saiddoorway and, spaced from said door, said barrier member having anelongated base member and an elongated wall member attached to saidbase, said wall member having a portion thereof, remote from said base,curved about an axis substantially parallel to a line formed byintersection of said wall member and said base member, said barrierbeing adapted to deflect when a heavy object passes thereover and toregain its original position when said heavy object has passed, saidwall member having sufficient height to overlap the lower portion ofsaid door when said door is closed and to intercept blown leaves whensaid door it open.

6. The invention as defined in claim 5 wherein said base is secured tosaid floor by adhesive.

7. The invention as defined in claim 5 wherein said base is secured tosaid floor by a hold-down bar.

8. The invention as defined in claim 5 wherein said flexible barriercomprises a plurality of sections disposed in end-toend relation toextend from side to side of said opening.

1. A flexible barrier comprising: an elongated base member having anelongated, thin wall member attached thereto, said wall member having aportion thereof, remote from said base permanently curved about an axissubstantially parallel to a line formed by intersection of said wallmember and said base said barrier being adapted to be mounted across anopening of a building and to being attached to a floor thereof, saidwall member being of sufficient height when installed to extend asubstantial distance above the base and to intercept blown leaves, saidflexible wall member also being adapted to deflect when a heavy objectpasses thereover and to regain its original position when said heavyobject has passed.
 2. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein saidwall has spaced, upwardly extending slits therein to increase theflexibility of the barrier.
 3. The invention as defined in claim 1wherein the flexible Wall is made of an elastomeric material.
 4. Theinvention as defined in claim 1 wherein the base and flexible wall areintegral.
 5. A building provided with a flexible barrier across thelower portion of a doorway, said barrier being adapted to interceptblown leaves, said building comprising: a doorway having a door and afloor adjacent said doorway, a flexible barrier member mounted on saidfloor across said doorway and, spaced from said door, said barriermember having an elongated base member and an elongated wall memberattached to said base, said wall member having a portion thereof, remotefrom said base, curved about an axis substantially parallel to a lineformed by intersection of said wall member and said base member, saidbarrier being adapted to deflect when a heavy object passes thereoverand to regain its original position when said heavy object has passed,said wall member having sufficient height to overlap the lower portionof said door when said door is closed and to intercept blown leaves whensaid door it open.
 6. The invention as defined in claim 5 wherein saidbase is secured to said floor by adhesive.
 7. The invention as definedin claim 5 wherein said base is secured to said floor by a hold-downbar.
 8. The invention as defined in claim 5 wherein said flexiblebarrier comprises a plurality of sections disposed in end-to-endrelation to extend from side to side of said opening.